


Precious Gems

by WerewolvesAreReal



Category: Leverage
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-13
Updated: 2019-01-13
Packaged: 2019-10-09 09:24:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17404301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WerewolvesAreReal/pseuds/WerewolvesAreReal
Summary: In Boston Parker contemplates the team and her new life.





	Precious Gems

Parker breathes slowly, shallowly, her feet and arms braced against two adjoining walls to keep her perched in the corner of the room. This isn't as good as crouching in a vent, but focusing on her body helps calm the buzz in her head. Her throat and chest feel like quiet bugs are scuttling around inside, small and discreet. Parker knows they don't really exist. She used to look for them, but that always made foster-parents upset.

Parker smiles a little, just to herself, when Hardison walks into the room. He doesn't notice her, and takes a bottle of his soda from Nate's fridge before wandering over to the couch. She focuses on _quiet:_ breathe in, breathe out. Important. Can't forget that. She can't even hear her _own_ breathing.

Eliot comes in next, and he notices her, judging by a quick wince of his shoulders. But he doesn't look up, doesn't say anything. Parker appreciates a lot of things about Eliot, but especially his silence.

Sophie follows shortly after, smiling cheerfully at Hardison and Eliot before darting the stairs a quick, sharp look. Nate's been coming later and later to meetings, and sometimes he stinks like Parker's stepfather used to, before he did some unpleasant stuff and she locked him in the trunk of his car.

Parker closes her eyes. Breathe in, breathe out.

The bugs are still crawling, but slowly. Not as bad. Nate descends the stairs, and cross the room Hardison says, “Okay, just waiting on Parker, and as a heads-up this case is seriously messy - “

“Parker's here,” says Eliot flatly. The back of his head doesn't twitch, and his voice sounds the usual-kind of annoyed, so Parker thinks he's probably enjoying this.

“She's – what now?” Hardison starts to look around the room. It's obvious when he sees her, because he jumps back and smacks against one of the computer screens.

“ _God,_ girl,” he mutters. “You want to be all spider-woman, can you give us some warning first?”

“Why would I do that,” she asks blankly.

“Right. Right. You coming down to join us?”

Parker considers. The tension of her arms and legs helps her think, _quiet._ “No.”

“...Right. Okay.” Hardison clears his throat. Nate is frowning at her, just a little, before Sophie touches his arm and he looks back to the front. “Well, our client is having a problem with this law firm...”

* * *

 

Two days later two prominent lawyers have been mysteriously arrested for social security theft and numerous breaches of contract, and as Parker heads to join the others in Lucille something catches her eye.

A minute later Parker hops into the van. “What's that?” Sophie asks, seeing what she holds.

“A pin,” says Parker. It's a very _nice_ pin, with sapphire and diamonds pieced together to form a small, glittery butterfly. Not excellent diamonds, but the sapphires are decent.

And it's _shiny._

“ - Did you steal it?”

“Did you know sapphire can be used to cut through glass?” Parker asks instead of answering. “The movies never show people using sapphire though.”

“Parker,” Sophie sighs. “ - Hardison, wait, we can't leave yet. Parker, give back the pin.”

“But - !”

“I'll buy you one just like it.”

“But then it won't be stolen,” Parker reminds her friend.

Sophie just sends her a severe look and gestures outside.

When they get back to McRory's Sophie chides her for 'sulking', but Parker doesn't feel so much like talking. She shrugs when Sophie tries to convince her to go shopping – they _just_ finished a con, so hasn't Sophie played dress up enough for today? - and finally abandons the others to climb inside the vent above the kitchen.

(Nate says he didn't pick this place to help the team, but Parker took one look at the vents and felt much more sure that he cared for them. Or her, at least).

One problem with vents is that they don't entirely block voices.

“ - not even seven o'clock, Nate, and look at you. Never without a glass of alcohol - “

“Of course there's alcohol! I live above a bar!”

“Yes! What an interesting choice! _About_ that...”

Parker squirms and then makes herself stay still, quiet, _small-silent._ Her stomach twists, and she wants to rattle her hands against the vent, except you can't hide and be loud at the same time. She wishes she were with Hardison, suddenly. He never minds if she leans over the couch, rattling the furniture and shaking out her hands while he plays games. His voice almost never sticks in her ears, later.

Like Nate and Sophie's voices right now.

“You can't keep doing this to yourself - “

“It's not affecting the job.”

“That's not what I'm talking about, Nate!”

The voices keep rising, louder, louder. Parker closes her eyes.

Breathe in, breathe out.

...Nate and Sophie leave, eventually. Parker doesn't know when. They always fight. But they make up, don't they?

Hardison enters the room next. Parker watches him through the slits in the vent; he seems to be crafting IDs. It's not something Nate asks him to do, making identification when they're not even on a job, but Hardison puts a lot of time into protecting them.

Something in Parker quiets. She slides out of the vent soundlessly. Her skin still feels tight, but not vulnerable. Hardison is here, after all, crafting digital shields and barriers. So there's no reason to hide. For once, she trusts someone else to disguise her steps.

Parker likes this team. Leverage. She wonders how long it can last.

She stands silently behind Hardison, who works on the couch with single-minded intensity and doesn't notice. She watches him make more than a dozen identities before putting his laptop aside and booting up a game on the wide display of screens usually used to briefings.

“Nate doesn't like it when you play here,” Parker points out.

Hardison yelps and almost falls off the couch. He needs to pay more attention to his surroundings, Parker thinks. But then, that's why she's here, and Eliot too – they all take care of each other.

The thought makes her warm. Parker sits next to Hardison as he starts his game, shooting her affronted glances. “I need to put a bell on you,” he grumbles. “What are you doing here, anyway?”

“Thinking.”

“Yeah?”

On-screen a few characters screech. Parker pulls her knees up to her chin. “I like it here.”

“It's a nice city,” Hardison agrees.

That's not what she meant. Parker struggles for the words.

“You're like diamonds,” she decides.

“Huh?” asks Hardison. His eyes are glued to the screen, and his whole body jolts with urgency when one of the characters explodes. “Hell, no - “

“You're diamonds,” Parker says. “All of you. And not the pretty, boring ones. The rare ones locked up in fancy cases at museums. Hard to reach, but worth it.”

“Um. Thank you?”

Parker looks at Hardison blankly. He doesn't _look_ like a diamond, she thinks to herself. But the comparison holds. She has always wanted diamonds and gold and silver, needed them close to her, like air. When they are somewhere else, separate, they are lovely but useless. Hollow. With her they become perfect.

When Parker was 11 she stole a diamond ring from a woman on the street. The woman didn't notice, so the ring was better off with Parker anyway. And the Leverage team is better with her too, she knows. No matter what anyone else thinks. Parker understands how the world works, and the five of them belong. Like gold and diamonds, silver and sapphires.

“The best diamonds are the ones worth stealing,” Parker explains. Hardison shoots her a confused smile. Maybe he doesn't understand. But that's alright.

He's here, after all. They can work out the rest later.

 


End file.
